27-Mar-2015
Prabeerkumar Sikdar
HYDERABAD: State government's plan to demolish the Institute of Mental Health,
a designated 'centre of excellence' at Erragadda and build bungalows for
all-India service officers in its place, has incurred the wrath of health
experts at a time when Telangana figures among the worst performing states,
when it comes to providing mental healthcare.
Angry at the government's move to utilize the adjacent premises of the
62-year-old mental hospital at the proposed secretariat complex at Erragadda,
the IMH Alumni Association said they had no clue where will thousands of
patients go for treatment now. The institute got over Rs 30 crore from the
Centre for upgradation about five years ago and has spent Rs 5 crore so far. It
also offers PG and diploma courses in psychiatric medicine.
"The order issued two days ago, has come as a shock to everyone as we were
under the impression that it is only the TB and Chest hospital premises that
will be pulled down to build the new secretariat complex. Now mental health
patients would be put to immense hardships if it is shifted from Erragadda,"
said Dr Devulapally Keshav Rao, president of the IMH Alumni Association.
Wondering how the government issued the GO without bothering to put an
alternative plan in place for the hospital, Dr Keshav Rao said the plan would
never work as the present IMH premises is situated on a spacious land spread
over 50 acres leased to the then Hyderabad state by a family way back in 1952
after the hospital was shifted from Jalna in Maharasthra, then part of the
Nizam territory.
"The decision is anti-people as Telangana is considered one of the worst states
in terms of mental healthcare with just one psychiatrist for more than 2 lakh
population, when it must be 1 psychiatrist per every 20,000 people as per World
Health Organisation (WHO) norms. Every district hospital should have 20
psychiatric beds but there isn't a single bed outside Hyderabad," lamented Dr
Yerra Sridhar, vice-president of Telangana chapter of Indian Psychiatric
Society.
What is at stake is not just the uncertain fate of post-graduate and diploma
course students in psychiatric medicine at the 600-bed IMH (affiliated to
Osmania Medical College), but what will befall on a staggering 100,000 patients
availing out-patient and in-patient services annually is being debated by the
mental health fraternity.
In fact, being the only in-patient set up for mental patients in government
sector in Telangana, the hospital doubles up as a training centre providing
short-term internship to thousands of under-graduate and PG medical students
from allopathy, homoeopathy, ayurveda and unani streams, besides 6,500 general
nursing students and about 2,300 B.Sc nursing students from 200 nursing
colleges annually.
timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/hyderabad/Bungalow-plan-at-mental-hospital-raises-experts-hackles/articleshow/46710002.cms
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